American Design 
9 September 2021
American Design 
370

Raymond Loewy

Unique wristwatch

Elgin
USA/France, c. 1929
14 karat gold-filled brass, enameled aluminum with hand-painted details, leather, glass, silk watch: 1 w × ½ d × 9 l in (3 × 1 × 23 cm) handkerchief: 16 w × 15½ d in (41 × 39 cm)
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result: $10,000
follow artist
own a similar item?
free evaluation

This unique hand-painted watch is a prototype for a design that never went into production. Sold with a silk scarf designed by Raymond Loewy.

Square dial in a gold-filled case to the leather strap
14k gold fill
Case is 3.7 mm x 2.3 mm
Manual
Marked to case '14k gold filled Elgin'
provenance: Raymond Loewy, Monte Carlo | Bonhams, Los Angeles, Modern Design | Art, Lot 91, 27 October 2019 | Private Collection

This work will ship from Wright in Chicago, Illinois.

print

Timeless Design

Prototype Wristwatches by Raymond Loewy

Known by the press as The Man Who Shaped America, Raymond Loewy understood how people lived with design like no other. Over his vast career, Loewy worked with industry giants and created some of the most iconic designs for American companies such as Shell, Exxon, TWA, BP, Greyhound, Coca-Cola, Studebaker, Air Force One, International Harvester, NASA and of course Lucky Strike, only to name a few. His mastery in style and attention to detail is shown in his designs for Elgin National Watch Company, the popular but now defunct watch company from Illinois. Although never produced, his prototype watch designs for the company feature hand-painted dials and showcase his forward thinking for the time. It is evident that the designer loved these unique watch designs as he was known to wear the prototypes himself.

370